Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Midsummer is only a week away now, and at last the weather is beginnning to reflect the time of year. This evening was warm and sunny, with clear skies which remained all evening. At Brookside this evening I found Simon, Cheryl and Daniel.
This evening's route was a simple loop to the south and west. We headed south to Addenbrooke's and along the DNA path to Great Shelford. We continued to Little Shelford and Newton before turning west to Foxton and Haslingfield. I hadn't been planning to climb Chapel Hill, but Daniel accepted my joking invitation to ride to the top and back, and Simon and Cheryl joined in. Once at the top, we admired the clear views back towards Cambridge before speeding down back to where we had started.
We continued west through Harlton to the Eversdens and Kingston before turning north to Caldecote and Highfields.
It was now about 8.40pm but the sun was still above the horizon, and it was still shining brightly when we arrived at The Black Horse in Dry Drayton at exactly 9pm. There we found Ian W waiting for us.
We sat outside the pub enjoying a drink whilst the sun set. Clear skies meant the temperature was dropping rapidly, and by the 9.30pm when we left the pub it was both dark and quite cold. We returned to Cambridge via Madingley, Coton and the Coton path. Eventually we rode along Garret Hostel Lane, past a long line of elegantly-dressed ball-goers queueing to get into Trinity Hall May Ball. In the congestion I got separated from Cheryl, and waited for her in Trinity Lane. When she emerged she was wheeling her bike: the exertions of crossing Garret Hostel Bridge had caused her chain to snap. Fortunately we were in the City Centre now, so I left Cheryl to walk to the station and returned home. I was back by about 10.15pm, after having ridden
30 miles on one of the loveliest evenings of the year.
View this route on a larger map